World War I – White Feathers of The Great War
By · CommentsThe white feather has totally different symbolic meanings in the American Military compared to the British Army and armies linked to the former British Empire. In the American military, a white feather is a sign of excellence in combat marksmenship. However, in The UK, the meaning could hardly be more different.
As early as the late 18th century, the white feather has been the sign of cowardice. Its origins come from the world of cockfighting as birds with any white tail feathers were viewed as poor fighters. The superior gamecocks were bred without having white tail feathers.
It became very common for ladies in particular to hand white feathers to men of fighting age they spotted in the street. A large number of men were so ashamed by being given a white feather in public, they would find a nearby recruiting office and join the military. Quite a few were destined only to stop an enemy round.
The act of presenting white feathers was so common that a number of the men who had been given them should never have received them. Some men who were home on leave and strolling the streets in civilian clothes were handed feathers. Various other undeserving recipients included men who were dismissed because of injury, were home recovering from injury or those that were clinically not fit to enlist.
The majority of the women who gave white feathers were part of a movement referred to as “Order of the White Feather” that had been started in 1914 to encourage women to give feathers to men who hadn’t signed up with the military. Nevertheless, there were people who thought that the ladies were occasionally somewhat to eager to give out feathers to men that shouldn’t have been given them.
However, one pacifist who refused to fight, was satisfied with the fact he was presented with so many feathers. Fenner Brockway was reported to have said that as a result of refusing to fight in The First World War, he had received ample white feathers to make a fan.
World War I – The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
By · CommentsThroughout The Great War, the death over the fields of Flanders was on an horrendous scale with numerous bodies never identified or retrieved. On 11th November 1920, simultaneously ceremonies took place in both London and Paris to unveil tombs of unknown soldiers.
The tomb of the unknown soldier came to symbolize the loss endured by the families of soldiers who fell and whose bodies were never identified or brought back. The unknown French soldier lies in the Arc de Triomphe in Paris while the unknown British soldier lies entombed in Westminster Abbey amongst kings and statesmen.
The idea was first contemplated by a clergyman called Reverend David Railton. In 1916 in France, he had seen a cross with the words “An Unknown British Soldier” written on it. Four years later in 1920, Railton contacted the Dean of Westminster saying it would be appropriate to have a nationally recognised grave for an unidentified soldier.
Four British servicemen were exhumed from Aisne, the Somme, Arras and Ypres and taken to a chapel at St Pol, near Arras. Every body was draped in a Union flag and one was picked out by Brigadier General L J Wyatt. Wyatt had no idea from where the bodies were removed from or their rank. The idea was that the unknown soldier could possibly have been anyone from a Private right up to a Colonel, a colonial labourer to the child of an Earl.
The soldiers coffin was transported to London and was delivered to Westminster Abbey in a horse drawn gun carriage. The cortege was accompanied by King George V and individuals from the Royal family. At Westminster Abbey, it was flanked by a guard of 100 winners of the Victoria Cross.
The casket was positioned and covered with soil taken from the battlefields of World War I. It was capped with a slab of black marble from Belgium and it is the only tombstone in Westminster Abbey which it is unacceptable to step on.
Ever since then, plenty of other nations have dedicated similar tombs including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Russia, Ukraine and the United States.
Battlefields From The Air – We Need Your Input
By · CommentsIn the early part of 2011, we’re planning an exciting visit to the Western Front in Belgium and France.
Unlike previous trips, this will be a flying visit…literally. The plan is to take a light aircraft over from southern England to various points along the Western Front and photograph them.
The aim is to record as many photos as possible in a couple of days flying. Normally, a short trip like this to places such as Ypres or the Somme would mean only a few places could be visited by road. However, by air, it is a different story. Obviously, we can’t land at every site but we will be able to cover a much wider area.
This is where we need your help. We’re currently in the planning stage and looking for suggestions of places to photograph from the air. These could be memorials like Vimy Ridge, cemeteries such as Etaples or battle scars such as the Lochnagar Crater. We’re not necessarily looking for the more famous landmarks, as long as your suggestion will make a good photo from the air, we’ll consider it.
We’re looking forward to hear your ideas.
A Full Day In The Region Close to Ypres
By · CommentsBrandhoek Cemetery is where Captain Noel Chavasse was laid to rest. Captain Chavasse is one of just three men to have been accorded Britain’s top award for bravery, the Victoria Cross. Furthermore, he has also been accorded the Military Cross. I am at present reading a book titled “In Foreign Fields” by Dan Collins and it is written about soldiers who’ve been accorded medals in Afghanistan and Iraq. When you understand exactly what a soldier needed to undertake in order to be granted an MC, it forces you to understand what a brave man Captain Chavasse was especially when he was a member of the Royal Medical Corps and never fired a shot for the duration of the war.
My next stop was near to the village of Passchendaele at the largest sized British Military Cemetery at Tynecot. Over 12,000 soldiers are buried here. From the cemetery, you can easily look out for several miles in all directions over fields and it seems tough to imagine the carnage which had been there 90 years ago. The visitors centre provides a historical past of the region as the names of a few of the fallen and missing are sent out calmly over audio speakers.
From Tynecot, I began to head back in direction of Ypres stopping at Hill 61 (Sanctuary Wood) on the way back. There is a little museum and some preserved trenches here. All through my trip, the weather was not kind and even if it was nothing like as lousy as conditions might have been throughout The Great War, the bottom of the trenches still looked quite awful. It cost a couple of Euros to get in and this was the first time I began to find out the impact of the notorious mud.
My next planned stop was the Hooge Crater. As previously in the day, I had a hard time trying to locate it although I saw a little independent museum called the Hooge Crater Museum which in fact had a compelling variety of artefacts such as a British Ambulance and a Victoria Cross.
My sightseeing for the day wasn’t complete as I still had to take a look at the renowned Cloth Hall which was almost ruined (since totally reconstructed) as well as the Last Post ceremony and that is carried out at 8pm each evening at the Menin Gate. I always find the Last Post incredibly haunting and moving to listen to. Soon after it was finished, 2 wreaths were laid by young British troops and was followed by a recital from Laurence Binyon’s “For The Fallen”
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Article on the Video ‘Beneath Hill 60′
By · CommentsThis years motion picture ‘Beneath Hill 60′ conveys the real account of a team of troopers with the 1st Australian Tunnellers led by Captain Oliver Woodward CMG MC and two bars. In the dvd, Woodward is portrayed by Brendan Cowell. He had been a miner and metallurgist from New South Wales and had not joined up like numerous other adult men in the area had done. He was deemed to be necessary to stay home to support the war effort and consequently, he had been sent several white feathers. It had been frequent at the time for folks to give white feathers to people whom they believed to be cowards.
Hill 60 is located in the southern area of the Ypres Salient and it wasn’t a natural feature. The hill was made with soil dug away to make a nearby railway cutting. Quite a few significant actions happened at Hill 60 in both World War I and World War II. During one night in 1915, 4 Victoria Crosses were granted as a German attack was successfully fought off.
The dvd highlights the events at the start of the Battle of Messines in 1917. 19 mines with almost 500,000 kgs of explosives were fired before the start of the assault. The storyline revolves around the exploits of Woodward and his men showing precisely what the tunneller companies were required to experience, a part of war that receives minimal coverage.
Woodward is put in command of a company and leads by example for the duration of the build up for the assault around Ypres. The action begins in the small hours of the morning when Woodward sets off the mine his soldiers have spent the previous weeks putting in place and defending.
Right after the war, Woodward goes back to Australia to wed his young sweetheart who had begged him not to join the army.
‘Beneath Hill 60′ is the ideal film which conveys the story of one of the most scary tasks of the Western Front. The tunnellers on both sides had to work in awful conditions understanding the enemy may perhaps be simply metres away preparing to either blow up their tunnel or break in and begin firing.
